For ilmenite bearing ore processing, almost all processing methods are applied, generally divided into the following.
(1) Gravity separation
This method is generally used in roughing separation of ilmenite bearing placer or ilmenite bearing ore after primary crushing. The separation equipment used includes jig machine, shaking table, spiral concentrator and fan chute, etc.
(2) Magnetic separation
This method is widely used in the cleaning separation of ilmenite mineral. Magnetic separation method can be used to separate magnetite, ilmenite and other magnetic products from rough concentrate.
(3) Electric separation
This method is used for the cleaning separation of ilmenite-bearing minerals. When the concentrate contains not only ilmenite and rutile, but also zircon and other non-conductive minerals, it can be separated by electric separation.
(4) Flotation
This method can be used in the separation of primary ore containing ilmenite, especially for the separation of fine-grained ilmenite ores, and sometimes in the cleaning separation of ilmenite rough concentrate.
Ilmenite ore processing process
The ilmenite ore processing process depends on the deposit type, ore type and mineral composition. Considering that the primary ore of ilmenite is similar in nature and the target mineral is simple, the adopted beneficiation method and process flow have their commonness. The primary ilmenite developed in industry is a composite deposit containing iron and ilmenite. The beneficiation process is divided into two parts: Iron Separation and ilmenite separation.
The raw material of ilmenite processing plant is tailings of iron processing plant. Ilmenite separation methods include gravity separation, magnetic separation, electric separation and flotation. There are several industrial processes for ilmenite separation.
(1) Gravity-electric separation process
The low-density gangue or waste rock mineral was discarded by gravity separation to obtain the roughing concentrate, and then the ilmenite concentrate was obtained by electric separation. For sulfur-bearing ores, the sulfide minerals need to be removed by flotation before electrical separation.
(2) Gravity-magnetic separation-flotation process
First, the materials are classified, and the coarse particles are separated by gravity separation for roughing and concentrated by magnetic separation for cleaning, and the fine particles are processed by flotation to obtain ilmenite concentrate.
(3) Gravity-electric separation for coarse grain, magnetic separation-flotation for fine grain process
The feature of this process is that the materials are divided into two parts: coarse and fine. The coarse particles are treated by gravity separation for roughing and then electric separation for cleaning, while the fine particles are treated by magnetic separation for roughing, and then the fine ilmenite concentrate is obtained by flotation.
(4) Single flotation or magnetic separation-flotation process
For ilmenite iron ore with fine-grained dissemination, the ilmenite concentrate can be directly obtained by flotation after grinding and iron separation, or the wet magnetic separator can be used as the roughing equipment first, and then ilmenite can be recovered by flotation. Single flotation or magnetic separation-flotation process is simple, easy to operate and manage, but the use of flotation reagents will increase the processing cost.
(5) Combined process of gravity flotation and smelting process
This method is only used to deal with difficult separate of ilmenite magnetite ore, when the ore contain magnetite and ilmenite with normal gravity separation or flotation method cannot well separate (because some ilmenite and Fe3O4 are a solid solution form), the mechanical beneficiation method is to separate the titanomagnetite and a part of gangue minerals to obtain the titanomagnetite concentrate. The separation of ilmenite and iron in this titanomagnetite can only be achieved by smelting to destroy their lattices. In the smelting (pyrometallurgy) process, ilmenite is transferred to the slag, the higher the ilmenite in the original concentrate, the higher the ilmenite in the slag. When the concentrate contains 30% TiO2, the content of TiO2 in the slag can reach 70% - 80% by electric furnace smelting. The slag containing ilmenite can be further extracted by metallurgical treatment.
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